Regarding Dodd's proposal:

http://firedoglake.com/2008/09/22/marshall-dodd-stares-down-paulson/#more-31916

Where's George? Where's the leader of the cult? They still believe in him. (From today's ARG poll: Among Republicans, 46% approve of the way Bush is handling the economy.)

thats stands for cash rules everything around me(h/t wu-tang clan). everything you've detailed is very accurate, and well thought out. but money is the key that you're looking for. its the missing "dot". the right will abdicate everything to the unitary executive, except money. thats when they start to pull out the constitution. they'll trust the leader( knowing that there are layers of more trustworthy, knowledgeable official) with fisa, torture, etc.,but not money. these titans grew up with bush. they are not letting that idiot control their future profits.

the ideas they are vehemently criticizing are the ones that have animated everything they've said and done for the last eight years? How does a human brain evade that recognition?

Hell I dunno. Ask John McCain.

http://www.house.gov/paul/congrec/congrec2002/
cr071602.htm

or click sig

Here is the speech, I think. He introduced legislation that would have prevented this nightmare.

As the song said: They were not listening then, they are not listening now, and perhaps they never will.

Robert Burton explains it all in "My Candidate, Myself", today.

These people really are not like Glenn Greenwald. As Burton says, "Despite the fact that students in the top quartile fairly accurately estimated how well they did, they also tended to overestimate the performance of others. In short, smart people tend to believe that everyone else "gets it." Incompetent people display both an increasing tendency to overestimate their cognitive abilities and a belief that they are smarter than the majority of those demonstrably sharper."

Ed Morrisey really thinks he is smarter than Glenn Greenwald. His readers think that too. How do you reason with that?

I just read this very interesting take on Conservatives and the bailout courtesy of Kos. Here's an excerpt Kos posted by Patrick Raffini:

"Republican incumbents in close races have the easiest vote of their lives coming up this week: No on the Bush-Pelosi Wall Street bailout.

God Himself couldn't have given rank-and-file Republicans a better opportunity to create political space between themselves and the Administration. That's why I want to see 40 Republican No votes in the Senate, and 150+ in the House. If a bailout is to pass, let it be with Democratic votes."

Link:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/22/15256/2632/465/606678

Republicans know how to play this game much better than Democrats.

How do you reason with that?

You can't. The only humane intervention known to break those sorts of magic circles is intensive psychotherapy. The "inhumane" option is when life dishes you up the kind of personal kick in the teeth that leads to an on the spot conversion. Unfortunately, it only applies to the specific kick-in-the-teeth-circumstance; ie; the learning doesn't transfer. Insight, IMHO, ca be neither taught, nor trained.

I can go along with the conclusion Republican ideology bears more responsibility for the mess in the financial sector.

But Democratic ideology is to put together a coalition of people and interest groups who oppose the GOP on some issue that defines them in a partisan way.

Democrats need to raise money and the financial sector has been willing to give to Democrats.

So, when Republicans propose cutting back regulation on the financial sector (or passing regulation that helps the financial sector and injures consumers) the GOP has no problem finding Democrats to go along with the bad ideas.

Astute voters will apportion blame to both Democrats and Republicans.

In a just world, this would lead to voters casting more votes for candidates who were neither Democrats nor Republicans.

Is it a coincidence that the most cogent critique of the proposed bailout came from Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent who has identified himself as a socialist in the past?

Guess who was a guest blogger on Ed Morrissey's Captain's Quarters blog back on October 10, 2006? Senator John McCain, letting the faithful know that even talking to North Korea was a dangerous policy:

"The worst thing we could do is accede to North Korea’s demand for bilateral talks...

This isn’t just about North Korea. Iran is watching ..."

Meanwhile, the Chinese government has employed an estimated 300,000 "50-cent posters" to spread government propaganda through online forums:

In this regard, the campaign is not all that different from some of the political techniques utilised outside China. McCain's presidential campaign recently attracted criticism when it emerged that volunteers were being offered prizes in exchange for seeding comments and messages supplied to them. The rewards on offer - books signed by McCain, a ride with the candidate on his campaign bus - tap into the mix of profit and politics alluded to by Lam.

Link at my sig.

"How is it humanly possible for that to be written without the author recognizing that everything he claims to oppose is what he's spent the last eight years endorsing?" - Glen

There is the notion in the mental health field that explains the phenomena. Ethically challenged people will begin to filter information coming in and going out through an over used system of denial and self interest. They can and do believe they see others exhibiting the behavior that they in fact are guilty. It is a common human trait that can lead to the kind of fun house mirror statements that the Republican's demonstrate on a national scale. See McCain's claims of sexism, sexual deviancy, taxes, big government, etc against Obama, and your account about the "right-wing commentator".

If there is indeed any developed consciousness the denied behavior can become so logically convoluted, rationalized and justified, that it turns into a skewed tool against any perceived threat. It's the working concept that if the only thing you have is a hammer then everything looks like a nail. Add some serious narcissism, in part an intense need to be seen as good, and or addiction to mood changing substances, stir in an enabling faction with the same agenda, here it is power and money, and you get the projection of ones own actual or emotional crimes on to another.

Simple. Deadly, spiritually, emotionally, and exceptionally destructive to a more honest based reality, and to our country.